Art Nouveau

Alternative, exclusive, short-lived and very elaborate, Art Nouveau means ‘new art’ in French, and was the name of a movement across The Arts that was incredibly innovative and modern in the wake of the Victorian era. Art Nouveau jewellery centred around France and lasted just 15 years—from 1895 to 1910, and it is not hard to see why, considering how avant garde and not to mention expensive this style of jewellery was.

After the refinement of Victorian jewellery which was usually an elegant patterned metal studded with a single type of gemstone, Art Nouveau threw the rules out the window. It used coloured enamel to create realistic depictions of women, animals and foliage within jewellery. It looked like the jewellery of elves, and these colourful designs really were the designs of dreams and magic before this movement was born.